Swedish Fish are an iconic candy. As far as different versions of the candy, the extensions have been rather subdued. You can get different flavors and the fish themselves come in two sizes. (There’s also a Sea Life version with different shapes.)

A few years ago Swedish Fish also went seasonal with Swedish Fish Eggs. They were tiny little pieces of assorted flavors. They were still a fully jelly candy in the same flavor assortment, just different shapes. This year the company has introduced a completely new product, one that only integrates one aspect of the Swedish Fish: the red flavor.

Swedish Fish are made by Kraft. Which bought up Cadbury which bought up Leaf which owned the rights to Malaaco, which came up with Swedish Fish in the first place. Swedish Fish are usually made in Canada, but these beans were made in Mexico.

The package is great, it’s a yellow background with scales and the bold red text logo for Swedish Fish. Next to that is an illustration of a basket full of the beans.

Like all packages of Swedish Fish items, it never says that flavor they are. We all know they’re Swedish Fish flavor, but it’s hard to pin down what that actually is. I figure Swedish Fish are lingonberry flavored.
They’re very red, thanks to oodles of Red #40. They might not be vegan like Swedish Fish are, since they do use beeswax on the shell.

The beans are small, smaller than a regular Easter jelly bean, and actually about the same mass but more spherical than a Jelly Belly.

They smell like a cross between Country Time Lemonade powder drink mix and Swedish Fish. They have a lot of grainy shell for such a small bean. The shell itself doesn’t have much flavor, it’s really just sugary. But there’s that layer where the shell meets the jelly center where there’s a little tangy note of berries. The center of the bean seems to be where the Swedish-fishness is. And that’s merely a soft, floral note. It’s sweet, but less sweet than the shell. The center has no tartness, which I found odd because I always thought Swedish Fish had a bit of tartness to them. But I went back and tasted some, and it seems that they really are almost completely on the side of sweet. In fact, after some grueling episodes of trying to shell my jelly beans, I did manage to find that the center is pretty much colorless and flavorless.

It comes down to this: I prefer actual Swedish Fish to the Swedish Fish Jelly Beans. I had a small bowl with them mixed and kept eating the fish. (It was actually a cute assortment of the mini fish and the beans, which looked like minnows and eggs.)

The beans are interesting because it’s a whole bag of just one flavor. But you’d better like it.

Related Candies

1. Sockerbit Swedish Candy Selections
2. Jelly Belly Snapple Jelly Beans
3. Ferrara Pan White Hot Red Hots Jelly Beans
4. Swedish Fish Eggs
5. Lemonhead & Friends Jelly Beans
6. Russell Stover Pectin Jelly Beans
7. All Gummies Gourmet Fruity Fish (Swedish Fish knock-off)
8. Swedish Aqua Life

Elmer Chocolate has been making candy since 1855. They’re based in Louisiana, but I usually only see their candy in California around Valentine’s Day as they have some very popular boxed chocolate assortments that are sold at drug stores and discounters all over the counter. However, they do make some insanely popular Easter products that seem much harder to find: Heavenly Hash Eggs and Gold Brick Eggs.

I was surprised to see these Cotton Candy Marshmallow Eggs at Cost Plus World Market instead of those more well known eggs, but at $1.49 and for something that was a little different from the traditional Easter fare, I was willing to take the plunge.

The packaging is simple, a very light plastic try has four sections to hold the domed marshmallow eggs. It does its job, as they were all pretty much flawless right out of the wrapper.

Each piece is rather small, they’re .45 ounces each. They’re about 2 inches long. They smell sweet, a little like cherry and milky chocolate. They’re a “light” candy, in that they’re not caloricly dense, so you can eat the whole package and it’s only 190 calories (105 per ounce).

I can’t really put my finger on what went wrong with these. The chocolate is passable, thought sweet is does a nice job of sealing in the soft, moist marshmallow. The marshmallow itself, well, it’s filled with bad air. It’s probably one of those flavors that not everyone can detect (like the fact that Red 40 tastes bitter to me and very few other people). It tastes like molten plastic. Styrofoam. It tastes like new Crocs. It’s not the marshmallow itself, as far as I can tell, it’s not the packaging ... it’s the stuff that was whipped into it.

It’s a great idea, to have a softly strawberry flavored marshmallow center. But in this case, I can’t recommend it. Everything I saw at the Cost Plus looks like it’s from the same case so would probably have the same issue. I haven’t seen them at any other store. I did try their Toasted Marshmallow Eggs a few years ago and didn’t note this issue.

My big question to you, readers, is this: Do you taste this kind of stuff? I notice similar problems at times with whipped items, like meringues or marshmallows. But other candies that have delicate flavors can also take on this plastic note (especially ones without a strong flavor of their own).

Does anyone else notice this from time to time? Do you know what it is? (Is it dangerous?)

UPDATE: As some here have noted and an inside source in the confectionery industry as also pointed out, it is likely from the packaging. The tray is likely polystyrene and it outgasses ... delicate and airy confections like marshmallows can easily absorb that “flavor”. Styrene is not a healthy item to consume, though in a seasonal treat in this small quantity is likely to be trivial. But it still doesn’t taste good.

Related Candies

1. Hilco Mallow Pals Strawberry Squeezable Marshmallow
2. Limited Edition 3 Musketeers Marshmallow
3. CVS Marshmallow Pop
4. Elmer’s Dark Chocolate Heavenly Hash & Gold Brick Eggs
5. Elmer’s Toasted Marshmallow Eggs
6. Elmer’s Chocolate

When Easter rolls around, I usually spend my discretionary calories on new holiday candies. One candy that I do purchase year after year, though, are the Hershey’s Candy Coated Milk Chocolate Eggs. The shell is thick and crunchy and the fudgy Hershey’s chocolate center soothes me in a way that high quality chocolate cannot.

I was interested to see Hershey’s newest item in their growing category of candy coated items. Hershey’s Candy Coated White Chocolate Flavored Eggs were on sale. Last year Mars introduced the White Chocolate M&Ms as an Easter item (still an exclusive at Target this year), so it’s natural that Hershey’s would want to be in the white game as well.

The big thing to note is that this is white chocolate flavored, not fully-accredited white chocolate. Instead of using only cocoa butter and dairy fats, Hershey’s has added all sorts of other vegetable oils.

Hershey’s is capable of some wonderful white chocolate, the Cookies ‘n Creme bar used to be spectacular. Here’s the ingredients list for the white eggs:

Sugar, vegetable oil (cocoa butter, palm, shea, sunflower and/or safflower oil), nonfat milk, corn syrup, milk fat, contains 2% or less of the following: cornstarch, artificial color (yellow 5, blue 1, red 40 and yellow 6), soy lecithin, resinous glaze, gum acacia, carnauba wax, vanillin, tocopherols (preservative) and PGPR.

The sized and shape are the same as the Milk Chocolate Eggs, in fact, I bought some at the same time just to compare.

The shell is quite thick, very hard and crunchy. Though there is quite a list of artificial colors in the ingredients, they’re only splattered with color so it’s not much to get in the way of the pure flavors. And by pure, I mean the sugar and the artificial vanilla and the milk.

It tastes artificial, like fake vanilla or instant pudding. It’s a wonderful shorthand for the smell of Easter, it’s like an Easter Basket in a candy shell. It’s certainly not for those who don’t like their candy sweet.

Compared to the new White Chocolate M&Ms, they’re vastly different. The M&Ms are smaller, have a more delicate shell and a more well-rounded butter flavor. The M&Ms are smoother and have a higher fat content and slick, almost greasy, texture (especially if they get warm). The Hershey’s White Eggs are a great mix of textures but don’t have flavor nor the cleanest ingredients to go with it.

Still ... there’s something about them that reminds me too much of those Easters of childhood when there really was an Easter Bunny and the candy was special. Cheap white chocolate is so inextricably tied in my head to the holiday, it’s hard to objective about it. I’m eating these, but I’m not sure I actually like them. And I’m considering buying them again.

Related Candies

1. M&Ms White Chocolate (Easter)
2. Cookies ‘n’ Creme Showdown
3. Hershey’s White Chocolate Meltaway Bliss
4. Ritter Sport White Chocolate with Hazelnuts
5. M&M and Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Eggs
6. Hershey Eggs

Easter is the season for foil wrapped chocolate eggs. They can be solid, they can be filled with things. They can be the size of a peanut or a football. The fun part is when they’re actually made with good chocolate.

I was excited to see Ghirardelli Milk & Crisp Chocolate Eggs at Target. Ghirardelli makes very good chocolate for the price, right here in California. I’ve been searching for the ideal crisped rice and milk chocolate combination, so this was the perfect item for me to pick up.

The yellow bag contains about 15 gold foil wrapped eggs. They’re a rich milk chocolate with crisped rice. They also come in a blue foil version that’s solid milk chocolate.

The bag is on the expensive side. The 3.5 ounces is about the same price as a chocolate bar from Ghirardelli, $3.49 ... one dollar an ounce. It’s a bit steep for chocolate that’s not marked as ethically sourced or organic but it is all natural. (The facility also processes tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and eggs. Contains milk and soy.)

The eggs smell dark and smoky, less sweet than many milk chocolates but still with a dairy note to it. The melt is soft and has that same sort of smoky note to it with a strong malt flavor from the crisped rice. There’s a hint of bitterness to it, but not much. Overall, it’s far less sweet than something like a Nestle Crunch chocolate and thought thick, not quite as sticky as Cadbury.

Overall, it was a bit more grown up than a Nestle Crunch NestEgg, but should probably be reserved for adults since the price is so much steeper. I would buy these again, and of course I’d prefer a half pound bag so I could put them out in a dish.

Related Candies

1. Ghirardelli Squares Milk & Hazelnut Crisp
2. Dove Cookies and Creme + Ghirardelli Cookies Jubilee
3. Hershey’s Mexican Made Miniatures
4. Nestle Crunch - Even More Scrumptious
5. Ghirardelli Luxe Milk
6. Ghirardelli Luxe Milk Crisp
7. Nestle Creme Eggs

Mars announced some seasonal candies last year, including Sugar Cookie Twix for Christmas 2012. While they never appeared on shelves, what I did see last week that was a surprise and not included in their Easter announcement was the new Twix Egg.

They’re cute, little Twix bars just for Easter. They had different pastel colors on the the front, though they’re all the classic Twix flavor. (I didn’t see any Coconut or PB Twix versions.)

It’s a Twix! Instead of sticks, it’s one globby egg. It’s just a smidge over one ounce.

I’m not a huge Twix fan, which has always confused me because on paper it has everything I like. There’s a crispy, almost-shortbread cookie base, a dose of chewy soft caramel and it’s enrobed in milk chocolate. Of all the Twix that have been created, I preferred the limited edition Java Twix, which was coffee flavored. The Triple Chocolate Twix, that have also appeared a few times, which feature a chocolate cookie, chocolate caramel and dark chocolate enrobing were also good.

The standard Twix, however, usually leaves me disinterested. I do try them occasionally, as I often end up with a sample now and then and they do show up in Halloween miniature assortments. They’re sweet ... the cookie isn’t big enough and the caramel doesn’t have enough caramelized sugar notes.

None of my comments are intended to get Twix to change for me, there are millions of people who like it the way it is, so I’d say don’t mess with it. But like the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, which can support many different sizes and shapes that rebalance the ratios of elements, the Twix can stand a few seasonal varieties.

This particular Twix doesn’t look enrobed, instead it looks like it’s molded, as it says, Twix right on the top and has a more glossy, smooth sheen to the consistent ripples.

The ratios are definitely different here. It feels like the cookie is more prominent. There’s more crunch, I taste the cookie now, instead of just knowing of its crispness. The caramel is also a distinctive part, instead of being mushed into the chocolate. Though the caramel isn’t as flavorful as I would have liked, it was salty and smooth and had a nice chew when combined with the sandy crunch of the cookie. The sweet milk chocolate is, well, far too sweet overall. The chocolate is much more dense on the ends, and it was on the last bite that I was overcome with the throat-searing sweetness. I’m sure if I balanced it with a strong drink like coffee or black tea, I’d be a little more in love with it.

The size is great, I find a one ounce bar to be just the right amount for a little break. It’s more than an individual stick (which are about .89 ounces) so it’s more substantial. The broad, flat shape also makes it feel like it’s more massive than it actually is. I bought three of them and fully intend to eat the final one that’s still in its package. But not today.

Mars did a great thing making a seasonal version. It’s not just a pastel wrapper on the every day item, it’s a special version just for Easter. (I expect there may be Halloween pumpkin ones, like the Snickers and Milky Way Simply Caramel get.)

Related Candies

1. Nestle Crunch Girl Scout Cookie Candy Bars: Peanut Butter & Caramel and Coconut
2. Nestle Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters
3. Twix Coconut (Limited Edition)
4. Triple Chocolate Twixels
5. Java Twix
6. Twix PB
7. Twix Triple Chocolate

BREAKING NEWS: The Original Fruits Skittles are no longer original.

The green Skittle, which has always been Lime in the United States (except for a brief replacement in 2001), has been replaced with Green Apple.

I noticed the new packages on shelves last week here in Southern California (but they’re probably rolling out all over the country on different timetables). Haley, a reader, mentioned in the comments on the Darkside Skittles review that Midnight Lime in the Darkside mix is now the new home of the much-maligned citrus.

The Green Apple Skittle is a fine tasting Skittle. It’s a mix of actual apple juice flavor, with that sort of peel note to it and the artificial Jolly Rancher. It has a good mix of tartness and sweetness, but it’s actually less tangy than I would have hoped.

The perfection that was the Original Fruits Skittles is now gone. The best feature of Skittles is their combine-ability. Every flavor went with every other flavor in a surprisingly versatile way.

Strawberry & Lime was a daiquiri. Lemon & Lime was a soda. Grape & Lime was a great fruit punch. Orange & Lime was a citrus cooler.

As nice as Green Apple is, it doesn’t play well with others. It’s too head strong. Green Apple and Grape is a wreck. Green Apple and Lemon is passable, but only because Lemon is making up for Apple’s failings. Green Apple and Strawberry is a battle in my mouth, the floral notes of the berry are quite strong, but the plastic note of the Green Apple just steamrolls it. Green Apple and Orange is, well, just fine.

Reaction on Facebook, since I’ve been glancing at the page, isn’t generally positive. More than half of the new messages posted there are negative about the Green Apple (the other posts are general comments with only one I saw that was positive about the flavor).

I’m not sure if this is a publicity stunt and Wrigley’s is planning for a backlash and then will, with much fanfare, return Lime ... or if it’s really a sign of the times, that Lime has had its day, that it’s a 20th century fruit living in a 21st century candy bag. This was mostly an American phenomenon, anyway, Australia went Green Apple more than 10 years ago.

For me, this ruins Skittles perfection. I liked every single flavor in the package. I would eat them all, sure I would rank them but I didn’t pick around a certain flavor. (I give the cherry Starburst away instead of eating them myself.) I still like Skittles ... but I’m far less likely to buy them with the new flavor swap.

Note: The Easter Pastel Skittles still have Lime for 2013.

Related Candies

1. Skittles Darkside
2. Skittles Crazy Sours (Europe)
3. New Flavors: Skittles Sour & Wonka Runts
4. Skittles from the UK
5. Skittles (Fruits, Wild Berry, Tropical, Smoothies & Sour)
6. What Made Hershey’s Want to Change Chocolate?

Trader Joe’s rarely takes a breather in their new product introductions. If I don’t go in for a few weeks, I might miss its appearance on the New at Trader Joe’s shelves only to stumble on it in the regular rotation. This was the case with the new Trader Joe’s PB&J Milk Chocolate Bar . The bar is found at the check out stands, in my case, mixed in with the Speculoos Bars.

The bar is simply a milk chocolate bar with creamy peanut butter and tart raspberry jelly.

The bar is about 5 inches long and 1.25 inches wide. It’s a nicely sized portion, at 1.75 ounces though the calorie count is a bit high since it’s so fatty - 230 calories for the bar or if you’d like to compare it to others I’ve reviewed, it’s 160 calories per ounce.

There’s no statement about the origin or sourcing of the chocolate, but some of the ingredients are organic like the palm oil in the peanut butter filling and some of the sugar.

The bar looks very simple. There are six segments, each filled with a base of peanut butter and topped with a syrupy raspberry jelly.

The milk chocolate is quite dark and has a smoky flavor to it. It’s smooth and has an excellent silky melt and strong flavor of its own, however, the overriding scent of the bar is peanut butter. Once I bit into a segment, though, the raspberry flavors were far more evident. The whole thing really was like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

The peanut butter is smooth, it has a dark roasted flavor with a hint of bitterness to it. There’s also a fair bit of salt, 60 mg for the whole bar, considering how much actual peanut butter is in there, I feel like it’s a lot but not over-salted.The jelly itself is a little runny. The best effect for the bar is to bite the segments, to get the smell of the berries, but that just makes the goo run. The raspberry is smooth, not at all grainy, it’s sweet but has a tartness to it. There are no seeds, but the flavor of the seeds, that woodsy green note is there.

For a buck, it’s a great bar. It’s different from anything else you can get in this price range and the ingredients are top of the line. The profile is less sweet than most other candy bars, which is refreshing.

There are no preservatives or artificial colors/flavors. It contains milk, soy and peanuts and may contain traces of wheat, eggs and/or tree nuts. It’s Kosher and made in Canada.

Related Candies

1. Annabelle’s Abba-Zaba Strawberry Peanut Butter
2. Baron Milk Chocolate PB&Js
3. Trader Joe’s Les Chocolats Belgique (Belgian Bars): Caramel, Chocolate Buttercream & Speculoos
4. Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
5. Madelaine Duets
6. Trader Joe’s Classic Chocolate Bars
7. Trader Joe’s PB & J Bar

Pictured are Beer Chocolates & Caramels from Ethel M. The company is the boxed chocolate division of Mars, they’re made in Henderson, Nevada and sold at their stores in Las Veagas. (You can also order on the internet.)

I visited their factory store years ago when I was in Las Vegas, which also features an amazing cactus garden adjacent. I recommend getting a hot chocolate and walking around (weather permitting ... otherwise some sort of cold drink).